"The Good Shepherd"

 

"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me – just as the Father knows me and I know my Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep."

 

            John tells us that Jesus spoke to the Pharisees, using a figure of speech. One translation says he "drew this picture." It is a type of parable he tells, not a full story parable like the Prodigal Son or the Good Samaritan, but a parable descriptive of common life, like the parable of the Sower or the yeast in the dough. This parable about shepherds and sheep seems to be a combination of pictures. Jesus is at one point the gate of the sheepfold and later he is the Good shepherd.

            The first part is verses 1 to 6 and is directly addressed to the Pharisees. Here Jesus describes a sheepfold, where the flock spent the night in safety. The shepherd comes in and out at the gate. He is recognized by the gatekeeper. The sheep listen to his voice, and he calls them by name. The shepherd leads the flock out in the morning. He does not drive them, but rather calls to them and they follow, because they recognize his voice. It was common for Palestinian shepherds to use pet names for their sheep, like "long ears" or "white nose," and they talked to the sheep throughout the day. Jesus then says that all others who come to the fold are thieves, robbers and strangers. The Pharisees do not understand what he is saying. Raymond Brown says their lack of understanding is not a problem of comprehension, but an unwillingness to respond to the challenge Jesus raises. They have not acted as shepherds in their leadership.

            The second part is verses 7 through 13. Now Jesus says that he is the gate in the sheepfold. This is very similar to John 14:6: "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me." The early church made use of this image of the gate. Ignatius wrote, "He is the gate of the Father, through which enter Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the prophets, the Apostles and the church." So Jesus says that he is the gate and all who enter through him will be saved. Then he says that he has come that they may have life, and have it to the full. But the others, the thieves and robbers, come to steal, kill and destroy.

            Who does he mean by thieves and robbers? Brown says, "The unhappy line of priestly rulers and politicians from the Maccabean times until Jesus' own day could certainly be characterized as false shepherds, thieves and robbers." But when Jesus speaks of the thief, he is surely indicating at deeper level the presence of Satan. He is the one who kills and destroys.

             What is Jesus saying to us here? He is saying that a relationship with him is based on trust. Faith in Jesus is personal faith. It is entered into with full devotion. In knowing Jesus and following him there is life, there is salvation. We have one Guide in life, one focus in our living, one friend who loves us and shows us the Father.

            This raises a significant issue in how people go about living these days. I remember when the Beatles broke up, that Paul McCartney produced an album by himself. On this album he played all the instruments and sang all the parts, and then he just put all the tracks together, so he became a quartet. But George Harrison said it is enough to master one instrument during a lifetime. Which is better: to experience a little of everything life has to offer, hoping that broad experience and learning will lead you to one truth; or to follow the One who is the Truth and so be led to the richness of the abundant life in all is depth and variety?

            To follow Jesus is to enter by the one gate, and so those who follow Christ decide to not follow a whole variety of other leaders and philosophies. You say, "I will walk on this road, and not on all roads." You say, "I will trust this Guide in life and not all the guides that life offers." The problem is that we are so afraid that if we do not try everything we will miss out on something important.

 We live in the culture of the shopping mall, where the goods of the world are placed before us and we are invited to consume them all. We think we can multi-task. We eat every kind of food. We study all subjects. We fill our schedules so full we can hardly breathe because we might miss something. So we wonder about following just one Lord. But the Christian believes that one is not less than many. If we follow Jesus he will not lead us to an impoverished or boring life. Rather when we follow the One, he leads to abundant living. The life of following Christ is one of lifelong learning, lifelong healing, and lifelong renewal in grace. For Jesus leads us, not to a trickle of water, like a dried up stream, but to an ocean of grace. Brown writes, "Jesus, who has offered Living Water, and Bread of Life, now offers the Pasture of life – the fullness of life as opposed to what you get from the thief."

            The problem for Christians these days is both that we have developed our appetite for what the culture offers, and that we settle for too little of what Christ offers. We are like sheep that go a few steps out of the fold, and then stop. We don't go all the way to the green pasture by following the Shepherd. So we are both distracted by the world and tentative in our faith. We mistake the security of the sheepfold for the Abundant Life.

            The old hymn says it best:

"All the Way my Savior leads me, what have I to ask beside?

Can I doubt his tender mercy, who through life has been my guide?

Heavenly peace, divinest comfort, here by faith in him to dwell!

For I know, what e'er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well."

            The final section is in verses 11 to 21, where Jesus says "I am the Good Shepherd." In the prophet Micah (2:12, 13) we read, "I will surely gather you all, Jacob; I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture."

            Now Jesus says that all those guides in life that promise so much may turn out to be hired hands who run when danger comes. Sin is a hired hand, in all its forms. It promises much, but when the pressure of life comes, it leaves you empty and alone. Excellence is also a hired hand. Jesus says you can gain the world and lose your soul. You can work so hard and be the best, and then when times turn bad, your money can disappear, your talent can diminish with age, your power can be snatched away. The hired hand runs when there is danger. Do not commit your life to a hired hand.

            There is a Good Shepherd. There is one who knows your name. It is amazing in life how many people and institutions we trust that do not know us, and so they end up using us. Trust your life to the one who knows your name, Jesus the Good shepherd.

            It is also true that we do not really commit until we are known. Nahum 1:7: "The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him."

            You do not have to tell Jesus your name. He knew you first. You can be honest with him. No need to hide. Not only does he know his sheep, but he says "my sheep know me." Jesus is not hard to know, not hidden, not kept in some secret, not distant from you. In the Gospel of John he reveals his identity and his heart.

            I heard it said that we are formed by our worship. If we truly worship Jesus, he forms our hearts and fills us with his love. Be careful who you worship. Be careful whose rituals you follow. Be careful to worship the Good Shepherd.

            Jesus says he is the Good Shepherd because he lays down his life for the sheep. He is willing to die to protect his sheep. Jesus does not present himself in the Gospel of John as the Kingly Shepherd, proud and distant and powerful. Rather the Good shepherd is the Suffering Servant found in the prophet Isaiah. He is the one who dies for your sin, and who is raised as the first fruits of eternal life. Jesus lays down his life in order to take it up again. Brown writes, "In the New Testament the resurrection is not a circumstance that follows the death of Jesus but the essential completion of the death of Jesus." You follow the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for you, because in his resurrection he leads you to life eternal.

            We have seen in the Gospel this month who Jesus is: he is the Son of God who gives life. He is the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, the Good Shepherd. He invites you to believe, and to follow.

            Amen.